Before art collectors, such as Cheech Marin, and galleries across Southern California began coveting his work, Jose Lozano had questioned his talents as a graduate student at Cal State Fullerton. <\/p>\n
During the 1980s, he had demontrated his creativity through the abstract expressionism of Jackson Pollack and Willem de Kooning, much to the chagrin of his professors.<\/p>\n
Growing up in Fullerton and becoming frustrated, Lozano drew a portrait of \u201cQueenie,\u201d a Black neighbor. In doing so, he stumbled upon his knack for transforming everyday people into muses. The drawing caught the attention of Pierre Picot, a visiting professor, who affirmed his new artistic direction.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know composition [and] how to tell a story,\u201d Lozano said, reflecting on the moment in an archived CSUF oral history interview last year. \u201cIt\u2019s what a drawing demands and it\u2019s going to be fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before passing away from cancer last month at 67, Lozano\u2019s artwork<\/a> came to animate spaces in Latino communities, including \u201cAliso Dreams,\u201d a mural painted on the side of the LA Plaza Village apartment complex near Olvera Street in Los Angeles, and the \u201cLoter\u00eda Card #1\u201d mural that stands at the Bristol Swap Mall food court in Santa Ana.<\/p>\n His portraits of Metro riders, families, Mexican wrestlers and clowns challenged conventional notions of depicting Chicanos in art.<\/p>\n \u201cHe comes from the second wave of Chicano artists,\u201d said Albert Lopez Jr., a Santa Ana artist. \u201cHe captured the gestures and identity of his culture and the people he wanted to talk about. When you see his work, you can identify it because of its unique style.\u201d<\/p>\n Born in Los Angeles in 1957, Lozano spent his early childhood primarily at his grandmother\u2019s house in Juarez, Mexico. When his mother was hired at the Hunts Wesson Foods Co., he moved to Fullerton and lived in the Tokers Town barrio.<\/p>\n A schoolteacher took notice of his early artistic talents and offered to pay for him to take art classes at the local YMCA.<\/p>\n Alicia Lozano-Garcia, his sister, recalled how her brother used the packing slips of nylon stockings for his art during his younger days.<\/p>\n \u201cOur mom would actually save those,\u201d she said. \u201cHe would ask for them at times and use them as the canvasses for his drawings.\u201d<\/p>\n After graduating from Fullerton High School, Lozano enrolled at the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena. He also studied art history at Cal State Fullerton before working on his master\u2019s degree in painting.<\/p>\n